


Under the Sun

by CrazyLaughter



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Future Fic, M/M, Surprises, Zouis Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 02:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7416889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyLaughter/pseuds/CrazyLaughter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Louis and Harry try to come out, but there's something else in store for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've been listening to TDKAU, Secret Love Song pt II and Uncover on repeats. If these songs had a baby, it would be this work.  
> Hope you like it. Feedback would be lovely. x

Louis takes a sneak from the corner of his eye, watching the lad wiggle into a pair of tight trousers. What worries him is not why Harry's putting on a pair of jeans, but because he's systematically seated and pulling them. Generally, he hops around the room to get them snug on his hips.

 Not to mention, there's a kind of sad smile adorning Harry's face, which he can't tell is good or bad. He can't. He can't even tell how he's feeling, himself.

The make-up brush on his face stops on his cheek and he hears Lou tut. She wrenches his chin back towards her and gives him a sceptical look. "C'mon, Louis, you've got a lifetime to stare at Harry, just not right now, please. I'm doing my job." She goes back to evening out the foundation powder dusted on his forehead. Hell, he didn't even know he had turned his head all the way around to look at his husband. 

Lou's just wasting her time, he thinks. It'll all be just a waste when he gets out there under the lights and dances and laughs and sweats off the prep and make up. She could get paid for better ways and not have her work turned to ashes by the shenanigans they do.

When she's done dousing his hair in spray that'll last three minutes into the show, Louis tentatively makes his way towards the latter. He stands aside as he watches the curly haired man stare blankly at the wall, fiddling with his fingers, pinching his cuticles-- a nervous habit. They've had an hour to relax before they set for getting ready for the show, and Harry's been jittery all through.

Louis remembers a few months ago, when they were signing a new contract under a new label for three more years and they had laid down their tight demands on the piece of paper which was the contract. Louis and Liam had pushed back their chairs with an ultimatum and somewhere along the dialogue, the former had demanded to come out with Harry, only shell shocked when the head had looked him dead in the eye and uttered out a compromise. It almost knocked him off his feet. Almost, because Harry was gripping his elbow so tight that the blood was rushing there just like to his head. Before they could really fathom what was going on, they had a bond agreement to prove it.

He finally plucks out the courage and lays a hesitant hand on Harry's shoulder, massaging the dip with his thumb enough to make him relax. Louis doesn't want to talk, for he is scared of the opinions and words that'll come out of Harry's mouth, but he dares anyway. "Alright?" He asks softly.

Harry mutters out a yes, but shakes his head diffidently, a bit later.

"Nerves, eh?" He ventures to ask.

He's made up of dubiousness. It's shaking in his hands and in the nervous dart of his eyes and the worrying on his bottom lip. "I don't know, Lou..."

"If it's any consolation, I'm a bit on the edge too," Louis supplies.

"You are?" Harry asks wide-eyed, resembling the sixteen year old boy who had kissed him six years ago by the campfire at Robin's bungalow. It's almost as if nothing had changed between them, only a few obstacles that came in between. But, in the end, it's them. It's always them.

"Haz, we're coming out to the entire world in an hour or two, you can't expect me to be laid back with my hand around a beer can!"

Harry laughs with a quiet rumble deep within his throat. "I suppose, but I bet not everyone will be surprised. It's our open secret." Louis nods as if to agree with him, but the frown on the younger haired man's face doesn't vanish. Instead, he cards his fingers through his curls-- they look like they were when Harry was nineteen, having grown back as cutting it for the movie-- and it's another nervous habit, of course. "Are you ready though?"

"I think I am, love." Louis concludes slowly, after a moment of uncertainty, but his answer is confident and sturdy. "Aren't you?"

Harry blows out a harsh breath between his lips and bites his lip again. It's an eternity before he replies. "I've gotten so used to staying the closet, so used to keeping you to myself," his eyes lift up with a concealed smile. "That, I'm not ready for the world yet. I remember before, I wanted to be out and about with it. I wanted to hold your hand at awards' shows and be that power couple that media always talks about. But, now that I'm about to face it, I can't help but... dread it." He sighs. "But, if I'm waiting now, I'll be waiting forever, then, won't I?"

Louis wets his lips. "Does that mean you want to wait? Because, I can tell the lads and everyone that'll postpone it to another. It isn't a small thing, so they'll understand--"

"Louis," Harry deadpans. "I want to. I'd be bonkers if I didn't.".  
    
"Okay, okay. I'm just making sure, y'know. It's better to know what's on your mind instead of assuming, because that'll only complicate things. Because, like--"

"Louis," Harry repeats, laughter in his tone. "You're rambling, babe."

"Am I?" He asks rhetorically. "Eh. I didn't realise."

 Harry is about to retaliate but, Niall and Liam stride into the green room with face splitting grins. They usually are like that before shows, but there's something in their smiles that is hiding something. Something twisted. Behind them, the happiness for them is shining out. But, still.

 

 "How're you lads doing?" Niall asks first with his 32 out. "Nervous?"

 "More than you can imagine," Harry supplies.

 "I completely forgot to ask you. What's the agenda? Is there something me and Ni have to do? Or something we should know in advance? How are you going to do it?"

 Louis rolls his eyes. "Payno, first of all, calm down. There's nothing you have to do, honestly. We're probably going to kiss at the end of the concert and say something like a gay pride speech into our mics. What else?" He raises an eyebrow when Niall and Liam exchange glances with identical simpers. "Alright, now. What's going on? What are you both hiding?"

 "Nothing's going on," Liam says immediately, conspicuously quick.

 "What do you mean, Lou? We're just excited is all," Niall's voice is shining with a tone that sounds downright suggestive. Only, platonically. "We'll be off, then, Fiona will be on our backs in a few."

 After they skip away, Louis begins to think about how the whole ordeal is suspicious but can't get far when Harry grips his arm, boring his eyes into the other's with tension singing on the eyebrows. "Louis, you haven't really answered my question. You do want to come out, right?" Before the said person could protest about the ridiculous question, he continues. "I mean, with me? Because you once said it would be healthier if we came out for ourselves and not for each other."

 Silly Harry. Really silly Harry, Louis thinks. He shakes his head and grins till he can see his husbands only through the slits of his eyes. "I did say that, love, but..." he pauses dramatically. "But, we'll be tied together. You know how the fans are, they'll conspire either way. Besides, we're already tied together and truth will be out at some point. They can't do anything about that. Might as well, y'know?"

 Harry starts to ponder out loud a bit more, but Fiona --their stage manager-- beckons them over. They go over their routine; gargling and a tad bit of vocal coaching and then, Fiona pushes them into their positions as the curtain rises (which was a new addition because they've never had curtains before, it made them look sophisticated than they actually were) which was marked by a 'x' that was taped down.

 Louis can feel the anguish clawing at his throat. The dread is a little too much like the first few shows of the Up All Night Tour. He didn't have much to sing back then, hence, didn't have much of a scope to mess up either. But, this time, it was different. He's done this only a hundred times, but it felt like the beginning again. He couldn't mess up the most important thing in his stardom life. He was feeling so measly himself, he was glad he didn't have to hold Harry's hair back while he puked like in the beginning. But, he did catch a glimpse of Harry trying to scrub off his teeth with his toothbrush-- old habits die hard.

 When the curtain raises, he's smiling his wide pop-star smile and is shouting out his greeting to the current city which he memorised. He bounces on stage a bit to get rid of his nerves and dances around with his microphone stand and takes tiny sips of water from time to time, reading out a few appropriate posters. The fans are as wonderful as ever, a little less in number from last time, but still the very best. Harry ends up tumbling over a couple of times. He laughs but makes sure they don't meet eyes to see each others' weakness.

 They'd sung all the songs that were on the playlist; _Olivia, Through the Dark, Clouds, Best Song Ever, Temporary Fix, No Control, Love You Goodbye_ and others that he couldn't remembered along with a few encores. He could only fathom his lips catching the familiar song in his ear piece and went along with it. He counted all the songs and he was pretty sure he positively started internally hyperventilating on the 19th song. However, the panic is mirrored in Harry's eyes when he glances at them, which is a huge relief. He knows they're both thinking out-- _backoutbackoutbackout_.

 Right as they come to the end of the twentieth song, he can see Harry shaking his head minutely from behind Niall's shoulder. As all music falls into silence, he expects Liam to look at both of them and cock his eyebrows for the signal to close the show, instead he's grinning like he did earlier and raises the microphone to his mouth.

 "Okay, everyone, we're about to make history, now!" he roars. The audience all make dubious murmurs that take up the air. Harry and Louis look at each other, expressions puzzled. Because what in bleeding hells is going on?! Niall is wearing the same face as Liam's and it almost seems like a surprise Ice-Bucket Challenge where the ice will fall on them from the ceiling.

 "Liam, what--" Louis begins to hiss, covering his microphone. He cuts himself off when the sound of piano fills his ears. Their fans begin to scream like never before, and Louis doesn't blame them, he himself feels like doing the same. God, he hasn't heard it in years. He hasn't ever sung it except for in the recording booth twice, but remembers penning it down while Harry and him shared a flask of tea. 

 "People say we shouldn't be together, we're too young to know about forever. I say they don't know what they're talk, talk, talking about," Liam croons softly, and another voice harmonises along that sounds suspiciously like Josh does in the shower. When Louis flashes him a look, he winks from over the drums.

 Harry's incredulous eyes meet Louis's over the havoc, the shock clearly written on both their faces. What's strange is that the crowd doesn't stop rumbling even when the music is soft. When Louis looks down at the front row, he sees a girl point to the screen behind them. He follows her gaze only to be awestruck.

 There's a slideshow of pictures glowing out of the screen, decorated with tiny moving clip arts around them. They stay for three seconds each before flipping to another. First, there's a picture of them in the X Factor cuddled together and sleeping in a bunk, next is one at Robin's bungalow. They show a timeline that the lads have captured via camera. From backstage kisses to fond look on front stage. 

 Niall was now singing Harry's verse (without the 'girl' at the end, bless him) because the latter was too busy gaping at the screen to even notice. Louis trips his way to Harry, before clasping his fingers tight on Harry's forearm. Harry glances at him with shiny eyes and an opened mouth. "What have they done?" The words come from his unmoving lips. "What have our boys done?"

 They're a jam of the electric guitar and the chorus goes off with a bang. Niall jumps in the air and Liam fist-pumps as they move into the _'they don't about the things we do'_. They're a picture of them in suits in front of the marriage registry from a few years ago, blaring on the screen. Harry moves to rub at his eyes to rid his tears and Louis finds himself leaning his forehead on his husband's shoulder and laughing.

 It definitely wasn't what they had been expecting. They decided a quiet coming out with the least dramatic method possible. But, thinking about that now felt... pointless. Louis could hear Niall's voice in his head saying 'you lot are the dream team, if you aren't coming out with flourish, it isn't worth it'. Harry and him were as dramatic as any couple could get. Nothing else mattered, nothing else was on his mind except for the fact that Harry was his and no other woman could come between them.

 If this was what freedom felt like, Louis loved it. It felt like inertia in his stomach and adrenaline in his veins. He didn't want to stop flying and he didn't want to let go of Harry's hand. He didn't have to write heartbroken songs anymore, he didn't have second guess everything in front of the cameras. If freedom felt like too much oxygen in his lungs while he was gasping for more because it wasn't enough, he wanted it. He loved it. He never wanted it to end.

 "--every kiss gets a little sweeter," Niall sings by the time Louis weaves back from his euphoria. The music abruptly stops and there's a long awkward pause.

 Liam is back to shouting into his microphone. "He's come especially for tonight, everyone. Please welcome back on stage, _Zayn Malik!"_  The crowd thunders at the name, going wilder than they already were.       

 Louis hears Harry gasp as their fingers dig into each other's palms, but he's too stupefied to react to anything. Next to the screen, the platform elevates up, reveals a visage, then a torso and legs. Zayn walks out just as the music comes to life again. He's grinning sideways at the couple over the collar of his leather jacket before singing, "It's getting better, it keeps getting better all the time, love!" He hugs Liam and then, claps Niall on the back and begin to rock the chorus again.

 On the screen, a series of recent pictures-- both of them leaning foreheads together and Louis thrown over Harry's shoulder and Louis holding back Harry's as he was leaving. There were all captured in the spontaneous moments but pieces like this were what made them. Harry beside him, was blinking too much not to cry, but Louis didn't console him like he always did. They were bound to cry for it anyway, neither of them expected the day to come and here they were. Crying didn't feel too bad.

 The lads took up their solos and finished the song perfectly with Zayn's high note. The pictures stopped on the screen, but not the songs. In succession came  _18, Strong, If I Could Fly_ and _Home_. Louis couldn't imagine how the three would've planned it all and how Zayn would've taken time out for it despite the fact that they weren't on good terms yet. The audience didn't stop cheering them till the very end, and nothing could be better than it was at the moment.

 "That was longer than our general concert, but you lot are the most fortunate ones out there!" Liam clamoured after they ran out of energy to sing. The girls continued screaming, and Louis even spotted a few sobbing into their fists in the front row. "Now let's see if Larry have anything to say!"

 Louis of course, didn't have the mouth to say anything. But after a few seconds, Harry speaks into his microphone. "This is Louis and I'm Harry. And this is who we are," he croaks. He's beautiful, is the thing. Even in his pale skin of a coat, he's reflecting bright light with a pearly smile. All these days, cold and wound up inside the closet and now out-- he's shining like a diamond under sunlight. He looks happier and fuller under the light, under the sun of truth. Louis couldn't be more in love if he tried at that minute. 

 So, he does what he does every time he feels like that. He surges forward and presses lips to Harry's. He tastes like how he feels-- like freedom. The world around them erupts into cheers that ring in their ears merrily.

 When Niall shouts out a goodbye, the curtains fall. Louis --still high from the feeling-- trips his way to the other three and hugs Niall and Liam tight expressing his utmost gratitude. "Thank you so much, lads. I-I-- _why_ didn't you warn me?" 

 "Best surprises are the ones untold," Niall quips with a smile. "Now that we gave you the best coming out experience, you owe us."

 "We do," Harry agrees as he pulls away from Zayn's embrace. He then, goes towards the other two.

 Louis wait for a second or two before he hesitantly throws his arms around Zayn's shoulders. "Thank you so _so_ much, Zayn. You didn't have to do this, I can't tell you how grateful I am. You three are the best."

 "I wanted to," Zayn says warmly. "So, you aren't angry anymore?"

 "I was never angry to begin with," Louis laughs and gives him a crinkled smile that's he's sure won't erase itself for days.

 ---

 When they clamber into their car to return to the hotel, Zayn bids them farewell and wishes to see them again. Harry and Louis get into the same car with the cameras watching. Louis was safe to say he wasn't happier than he was at that moment.

 "Good day, wasn't it?" Harry says while they slide under the covers, backbone popping from the stretch. He wears a tired smile, but eyes that brim with happiness.

 Louis hums in agreement, turning to face him. "Just a good day?"

 Harry reaches out to tangle his fingers with Louis's. "The best," he says softly.

 When they're drifting to sleep, Louis remembers that they have an elaborate interview the next morning. All the radio stations will blast their songs and they'll be all people talk about for a few days and a few fan-girl hearts will be broken and they're a few scornful derogatory terms aimed at them and the content on each other's Wikipedia page will change.

 But, that's for tomorrow. If it's with Harry and this drug of a freedom, tomorrow will be tomorrow. Louis is willing to wait for it and live through it. In the meanwhile, he snuggles closer to Harry's back and tries to match their even breaths.

 Every tomorrow felt worth living for the first time.  

 

 

 

[Russian Translation](https://ficbook.net/readfic/6578730)


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